Benjamin Ostermeier [email protected] benostermeier.com
Education
Master of Science in Library and Information Science, Expected May 2022, University of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign
Bachelor of Arts in History, 2016, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville • Minor in Digital Humanities and Social Sciences • Minor in Computer Science • Cumulative GPA: 3.925 Relevant Experience University of Illinois Scholarly Commons – Graduate Assistant (August 2020 – Present) • Answered patron questions about software and scanning services available in Scholarly Commons using virtual library chat software and email. • Assisted in digital initiatives at the University of Illinois, including publishing the Scholarly Commons podcast, georeferencing historical maps, researching data collection policies at other universities, exploring machine learning library projects, and creating a virtual timeline of the history of the Scholarly Commons.
University of Illinois Rare Book and Manuscript Library (August 2020 – Present) • Assisted in the creation of a theme for the Omeka S platform for the Rare Book and Manuscript Library. The goal for this Omeka S theme is to use it as a basis for Omeka S themes to be used throughout the library. • Assisted in the creation of digital exhibits to feature the collections of the Rare Book and Manuscript Library • Answered research questions about rare books and manuscripts in the library’s collection, which included locating and handling these artifacts from the library’s high-volume storage.
SIUE IRIS Center for the Digital Humanities - Technician (August 2017 – July 2020) • Provided guidance and technical support for faculty and student digital scholarship projects at SIUE, including planning and design of digital archive infrastructure, developing front-end interfaces for website users, and training students in artifact digitization and metadata writing. • Performed periodic software updates on computers in the IRIS Center and helped select new hardware and software for purchase to meet the growing needs of the IRIS Center • Wrote successful SIUE internal grants to support digital scholarship projects and the purchase of software and hardware updates for the IRIS Center
Gateway LEGO User Group – Facebook Coordinator, volunteer position (March 2019 – Present) Engaged with St. Louis metro community through social media posts on Facebook to promote attendance at events where the LEGO club would display LEGO models to the public.
Association for Linguistic Typology – Web Developer (November 2018 – August 2019) Migrated the Association for Linguistic Typology’s WordPress site (linguistic-typology.org) off of a WordPress.com service to a WordPress.org server. I also developed a system for applicants to join the association on the website using the User Registration WordPress plugin.
St. Louis Theatre Organ Society – Web Developer (August 2017 – May 2018) Updated the St. Louis Theatre Organ Society’s website (sltos.org) from a static html website to a WordPress site that can be easily updated by members of the organization. I also designed a new interface for the website.
Madison Historical – Tech Developer, part-time (August 2016 – July 2017) Developed the website for the project using the WordPress and Omeka Content Management systems, created infrastructure for the digital archive and the workflow for artifact digitization, and designed the front-end interface for the website.
SIUE University Archives – Archives Assistant (August 2015 – May 2016)
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Worked with the Eugene B. Redmond Collection of Lovejoy Library, which documents both the literary work of Redmond and his relationships with other members of the Black Arts Movement. I identified and created folder and box categories to organize the wide variety of materials in the collection and played a role in the early development of the collection’s finding aid.
St. Clair County Historical Society - Collections Volunteer (Summer 2014 and Summer 2015) Cataloged the society's extensive collection of documents, photographs, and objects related to the history of St. Clair County. I separated objects from flat objects like photographs and artifacts and updated and added entries for artifacts in the society’s digital catalog using the PastPerfect application.
The Alestle – Reporter and Online, Opinion, and Copy Editors (April 2013 – May 2014) Wrote articles on several SIUE topics, including a potential smoking ban, the reliability of campus Wi-Fi, and the treatment of wildlife on campus. As the opinion editor I assigned editorials to reporters and created the layout of the opinion section. As the Online Editor, I published our articles online and promoted them on Facebook and Twitter. Skills Digital Archiving • Developing and customizing Omeka plugins • Digitizing photographs, documents, maps, cassette tapes, VHS tapes, 19th century books, and other artifacts in archival quality • Developing controlled vocabulary for describing digital artifacts • Batch adding multiple items to Omeka using the “Batch Upload” plugin and CSV files • Creating structures for digital archive websites, including site navigation, search features, and other forms of user interaction • Harvesting digital resources using the Open Archives Initiative’s Protocol for Metadata Harvesting • Following a variety of metadata schemas for describing digital artifacts, including Dublin Core, METS, PREMIS, MIX, PBCore, and TextMD. • Creating Archive Information Packages following the Open Archival Information System (OAIS) Reference Model and packaging them using the BagIt file packaging format • Ensuring preserved digital files have not been altered through fixity checking with checksums. • Familiarity with the best file formats for digital preservation.
Web Development • Building websites using Omeka, WordPress, and Scalar Content Management Systems. • Creating custom themes and modifying themes for Omeka Classic, Omeka S, and WordPress using HTML, CSS, JavaScript, jQuery, and PHP • Making websites accessible to those with digitabilities by following Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) • Creating basic web apps using node.js, Express, and Vue.js that can read and write data from an SQL database • Resizing and compressing images for web usage while maintaining quality Geographic Information Systems • Creating and modifying vector features using ArcMap and QGIS • Georeferencing historic raster maps onto contemporary maps using QGIS • Creating interactive digital maps for websites using Leaflet.js Digital Scholarship Methods • Creating interactive data visualizations with Tableau • Generating network graphs with Gephi • Creating text corpuses with Voyant for basic text analysis • Conducting and transcribing oral histories • Training professors and both high school and university students in digital methods • Basic data analysis using the pandas library for python Project Management • Creating workflows and timelines for digital scholarship projects and ensuring the project team is meeting project goals and deadlines • Grant writing and proofreading • Familiarity with digital community engagement ethics, including privacy considerations, obtaining consent to share materials online, copyright issues, and making digital spaces accessible to the local community. • Project organization and task management using Trello • Team communication with Slack • Assessing risks to preservation of digital resources for digital humanities projects. Other Skills • Audio and video editing with Audacity and Adobe Premiere Pro
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• Graphic and print design with Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign • Researching history, particularly local history, and making historical arguments • Answering reference research questions about rare books and manuscripts. • Planning and releasing a podcast on WordPress to iTunes and other podcast platforms. • Batch processing of digital files through various automated processes, such as renaming, resizing, format converting, and other processes Digital Scholarship Projects Making Mr. Darcy Digital Exhibit (exhibits.library.illinois.edu/s/rbml/page/darcy), Developer, 2020 – 2021 (ongoing). Based on “Making Mr. Darcy: Cultural Context for the Regency Gentleman” physical exhibit curated by Lynne M. Thomas, head of the Rare Book & Manuscript Library, in 2019. Created digital version of physical exhibit previously held in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library using the K. Sharp theme. This involved gathering and organizing digital scans previously done on the books featured in this exhibit, pulling metadata from the library’s catalog, bulk uploading scans and metadata to Omeka S, and organizing the content of the exhibits and exhibit books.
K. Sharp Omeka S Theme (github.com/UIUCLibrary/ksharp), Developer, 2020 – 2021 (ongoing) Co-developed theme for use on the Omeka S content management system with Alex Dryden for the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library.
SourceLab Preservation Recommendations, Co-Writer and Project Manager, 2020 For the final project of my Digital Preservation course, I and a team of fellow students evaluated potential digital preservation risks to the digital history project SourceLab (iopn.library.illinois.edu/journals/sourcelab) and made a series of recommendations for preserving the work of the SourceLab project. The goal was for these tasks to be integrated into the pre- existing workflows of the project.
Celebrating a Decade of the Scholarly Commons Timeline (library.illinois.edu/sc/10th-anniversary/), Designer and Developer, 2020 Fellow Scholarly Commons graduate assistant Mallory Untch and I developed a timeline covering the history of the Scholarly Commons at the University of Illinois using timeline.js, which I heavily customized with custom CSS and JavaScript.
Default Metadata plugin for Omeka (omeka.org/classic/plugins/DefaultMetadata/), Developer, 2019 – 2020. Based on Default Dublin Core plugin by Eric Weig. Developed plugin for Omeka, which allows site administrators to set default metadata values for describing digital artifacts.
Digital Humanities and the Undergraduate Experience (iris.siue.edu/undergrad-dh/), Conference Planner, 2019. Played a key role in conference planning, including the development of the website to promote conference, creating the Call for Proposals application using Google Forms, helping to develop conference schedule and program, and providing technical support for Audio/Visual presentations during the conference. Forgotten Illinois 200 (forgotten-illinois.org), Project Manager and Tech Developer, 2018 – 2019. Developed online gallery of photos, videos, lesson plans, and other digital content from nearly 20 projects funded by the Illinois Humanities Council’s Forgotten Illinois grant program. This project won the Illinois Association of Museums’ 2019 Best Practices Award for Superior Achievement in Virtual Materials. Conversation Toward a Brighter Future 2.0 (iris.siue.edu/brighter-future/), Tech Developer, 2018 – 2020, Project Manager, 2019 – 2020. Provided technical support for area high school teachers integrating digital storytelling on intergenerationally into their curriculum, including training students and teachers in audio and video recording and editing. This project was funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
IRIS Center main site (iris.siue.edu), Web Developer, 2017 – 2020. Using WordPress, developed and maintained the interface and site structure of a new version the IRIS Center website with my colleague, Katie Knowles.
Digital East St. Louis (eaststlouisculture.siue.edu), Web Developer, 2017 – 2020. Maintained website originally developed by Sudha Madhuri Arvapally and developed public-facing part of the website after the project concluded. This project, which engaged East St. Louis middle school students with the history and culture of their city through digital methods, was funded by the National Science Foundation.
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Madison Historical: The Online Encyclopedia and Digital Archive for Madison County, Illinois (madison- historical.siue.edu), Tech Developer, 2016 – 2020. Developed the website for the project using the WordPress and Omeka Content Management systems, created infrastructure for the digital archive and the workflow for artifact digitization, and designed the front-end interface for the website about the history of Madison County. This includes a digital book viewer based on the Internet Archive’s book viewer, which I modified using JavaScript and developed a way for student workers to create book viewers using a Windows application I developed using Visual Basic.
Borderlands: The Goshen Settlement of William Bolin Whiteside, (whiteside.siue.edu), Author, Researcher, and Web Developer, 2016 – 2020. For my Bachelor of Arts senior project, I developed this website to present a multi-linear history argument about the environmental impact of American settlement of frontier Illinois. This was the first non-paper senior project for the History Department and received the Kimball, McAfee & Riddleberger Award in Historical Studies for the best senior project in 2016.
The Wide, Wide World Digital Edition, (widewideworlddigitaledition.siue.edu), Student Editor and Web Developer, 2014 – 2020. Updated website from Omeka 1.X to Omeka 2.X, revamped website interface and structure, helped develop controlled vocabulary for item metadata, digitized books, and organized digital artifacts. This website maps transatlantic publication networks via the development of a digital edition of Susan Warner’s 1851 female Bildungsroman The Wide, Wide World. Publications and Presentations “Introduction to Optical Character Recognition (OCR) and Searchable PDFs.” Workshop co-presented with Mallory Untch at the University of Illinois Library, October and November 2020.
“Building an Inclusive Digital Local History in the Midwest.” Paper presented at the Global Digital Humanities Symposium at Michigan State University, March 2020.
“Publishing Digital Scholarship with Scalar,” Workshop at the SIUE IRIS Center, January 2020.
“Madison Historical: Community Engagement from Kindergarten to College.” Paper co-presented with Brendon Floyd, Shannan Mason, and Kendyl Schmidt at the Digital Humanities and the Undergraduate Experience conference at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, April 2019.
“Creating Data Visualizations with Tableau,” Workshop at the SIUE IRIS Center, February 2019.
“Intro to Video Production,” Presentation part of Audio & Video Production Professional Development Workshop at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, August 2018.
“Digital Community Engagement at SIUE: How a Regional University can have a Global Impact.” Paper co- presented with Katherine Knowles at the Global Digital Humanities Symposium at Michigan State University, March 2018.
“The Whitesides: Benjamin & Lucy's Neighbors.” Lecture at Benjamin Stephenson House museum in Edwardsville, Illinois, March 2018.
“The World’s Largest Catsup Bottle in Collinsville,” Madison Historical: The Online Encyclopedia and Digital Archive for Madison County, Illinois, Encyclopedia article co-authored with Elizabeth Silva, (madison- historical.siue.edu/encyclopedia/catsup-bottle), 2018.
“Written on the Land: The Whiteside Family,” Article in Journal of St. Clair County History v. 40, 2016 – 2017.
“Innovative Digital History Collaborations in Illinois Universities: UIS History Harvest, UIUC SourceLab, and SIUE Madison County Historical.” Co-presentation with Jeffrey Manuel and Jason Stacy as part of a panel discussion at the Conference on Illinois History at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library in Springfield, Illinois, October 2017.
“Madison Historical: A Model for Digital Public History.” Workshop co-presented with Jeffrey Manuel and Jason Stacy at the SIUE IRIS Center, April 2017.
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“Border History of Madison County,” Madison Historical: The Online Encyclopedia and Digital Archive for Madison County, Illinois, Encyclopedia Article (madison-historical.siue.edu/encyclopedia/border-history), 2017.
“Organizing and Personalizing Online Digital Collections with Omeka.” Workshop co-presented with Katie Knowles at the SIUE IRIS Center, February 2017.
“How the Web Works.” Workshop at the SIUE IRIS Center, January 2017.
“Whiteside, William Bolin (1777 – 1833),” Madison Historical: The Online Encyclopedia and Digital Archive for Madison County, Illinois, Encyclopedia article (madison-historical.siue.edu/encyclopedia/william-bolin- whiteside), 2017. Awarded Contracts and Grants All of the awards below were written with my IRIS Center colleagues Jessica DeSpain, Kristine Hildebrandt, and Katie Knowles. Awards for which I was a primary author are indicated with an asterisk. *SIUE Graduate School Research Equipment and Tools Program, $4,716, awarded March 2020. Funded purchase of new iMacs to replace aging Mac desktops in the IRIS Center *SIUE College of Arts and Sciences Targeted Funding Initiative, $12,532.25, awarded July 2019 Funded creation of website to document the history of the African American community in Edwardsville, Illinois SIUE Graduate School Conference and Workshop Awards, $6,000, awarded February 2019. Funded Digital Humanities and the Undergraduate Experience conference SIUE College of Arts and Sciences Targeted Funding Initiative, $9,580, awarded November 2018. Funded Digital Humanities and the Undergraduate Experience conference *Contract with Illinois Humanities, $2,675, awarded August 2018. Funded creation of digital gallery of projects funded by the Forgotten Illinois grant program (forgotten-illinois.org) *SIUE Graduate School Research Equipment and Tools Program, $5,983.25, awarded March 2018. Funded purchase of laptops, microphones, and GoPros for mobile digital storytelling with the IRIS Center SIUE Graduate School Research Equipment and Tools Program, $750, awarded May 2017. Funded purchase of new monitor and external hard drive for the IRIS Center *SIUE Graduate School Research Equipment and Tools Program, $2,899.98, awarded May 2017. Funded purchase of hardware and software updates to the IRIS Center book scanner
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